Broken
Chapter Three- I'll show you what I can be
A/N: Happy New Year! :)) Still don't own crap! Good job to MelissaMelinda and fresch who answered our questions! Yay! On with this story…
Rachel watched as Puck slowly nodded, taking a tentative step out of her way, letting her know it was okay to pass. Rachel took that opportunity to run. She slammed her door, turned her music up and threw herself on her bed, allowing the tears to flow freely. As her mind cleared from the panic induced haze, she realized maybe her actions and reactions were a little irrational. She started to stand to go out and apologize to the two boys who were only being kind and patient with her; but the sound of another door slamming made her sit back down on the bed. Over the music she heard a soft knock on her door, expecting Finn to be on the other side She pulled open the door, only to see her Pixie in Puck's arms. "Umm, Pixie wanted you." She snatched her dog out of the man's arms before slamming her door shut again. Still clutching a happy Pixie to her chest, she slowly slid down the closed door.
Rachel was completely confused. Pixie never let anyone but Rachel hold her, not even her father's could interact with the timid dog. Rachel is the one who held the dog, took her for walks, fed her, played with her, the dog slept only in Rachel's presence. How could Pixie allow Puck to just pick her up? Rachel couldn't wrap her mind around the simple fact that Pixie trusts Puck. But why? Rachel couldn't put the pieces together.
She held Pixie until the small dog squirmed to get out of her grasp and by that point the only thing Rachel could do was crawl into bed and worry about it tomorrow.
…***…***
Finn grabbed an apple and his coffee heading towards the door. He had an eight o'clock class to get to; he was running late and didn't have the time to chat. "I'm leaving Puck, I'll catch you later." He walked out the door without any thought.
Puck sat on the couch, playing COD, waiting for the guys to show up. It was a tradition for them, it was their day off. Sitting around playing video games, eating junk food, that sounded so much better than worrying about homework.
His phone alerted him of a new text, which meant they were here. Puck jumped to get the door and Artie, Sam, Mike, Matt and Dave stood with chips and beer. Puck let them in, heading straight for the TV, they settled in for the day's worth of games.
"So, boys, what are we starting with first?"
Artie, being the nerd he is-bless his soul-and proud of it, spoke first, "Who's up for some old school? Mortal Combat?" With the nods of approval the games began. Artie played against Matt first and after being deemed the winner, Matt chose who was to play against Artie next.
"Uh, Dave's up." When there was no response, everyone looked around the room.
"I think he went to the bathroom." Mike spoke up. "We can just wait. Not a big deal."
With the room quiet, the faint sounds of scratching at the door were heard. "Dude, when did you guys get a dog?" Sam asked Puck.
Absentmindedly, Puck answered, "The other day." The other guys exchanged confused glances.
At the same time Puck said that, the sound of two doors opening at the same time could be heard in the quiet.
…***…**
Rachel opened her door to bring Pixie out, she needed to be fed and then brought to a puppy pad on the balcony to do her business. She stepped and started to head for the leaving room when a low, deep voice caught her attention. "Well who are you?"
Rachel whipped around, panic flooding her senses. The man stood tall, with broad shoulders, curly hair, but cold blue eyes. His stance alone showed confidence and power. Rachel tensed under his scrutinizing glare, she turned to run but he blocked to her door. Her survival instincts kicked in as she looked for another means of escape and saw the path to the living room was now open. But he was faster and was able to block her from running. "You know Puck doesn't usually keep his whores overnight." His voice was quiet but threatening…
...***…***
Back in the living room Pixie ran to Puck's feet, growling and barking for his attention. "Yes, grr, fucking grr, foods over there. Go, shoo." The dog jumped into Puck's lap, barking louder. "What do you want?" Puck patted the dogs head, thinking it wanted attention. "Yes I see you pretty puppy, now go." Heads turned in confusion, all with simultaneous, "What the fuck?"
…***…***
Rachel couldn't find her voice, she wanted to scream and run. She knew the path to her door was now unblocked, and she made a quick decision to move. It seemed like this guy was a step ahead of her. He grabbed Rachel's wrist, yanking her back to him, flooding her mind with memories of strong hands. Ones that held her against her will; she felt the tears coming to her eyes, with a small whimper, Dave loosened his grip. "What, you don't like being called a whore? Well, isn't it what you are?"A loud sob broke through, the pain of her memories cutting her deep.
Flashback
"You're nothing but a dirty whore. No one will ever want you." A deep voice cut through the still, dark night. The strong man held both of her wrists tightly in one hand, pinning her to the cold ground. "Whores don't get second chances…"
Flashback Ends
At the sound of a sob, Puck jumped from his spot on the couch, Pixie still in his arms. "Shit!" He handed the dog off to Artie and ran towards the sound. When he reached the hall he saw Dave towering over Rachel, her wrist in his hand.
"…the house whore maybe?"
At Rachel's whimper, Puck spoke, "Let her go." Even though it was through clenched teeth, he knew Dave understood. He dropped Rachel's hand and took a step back, eyes wide.
Rachel automatically ran to Puck, hiding herself behind him. Puck instinctively wrapped an arm around her. Finally when my worst nightmare is coming true, someone is here to save me…
"You need to leave Dave."
Confusion swept across Dave's face. "Who is she? What's going on?"
"Just leave, before I force you to." At the threat Dave nodded and moved towards them, and Puck felt how Rachel tensed. Puck moved them against the wall, keeping eye contact with Dave the entire time. As soon as he was out of the hallway, Puck turned to face Rachel. "You okay?" Rachel clung to him, burying her face in his chest, tears soaking his shirt. "I'll take that as a no…" He slowly brought his arms up to wrap around her shoulders, trying to offer her some form of comfort. "Shh, he's gone you're okay."
"What's going on?" A concerned Sam asked from the hall entrance, only after hearing Dave mutter something about Puck choosing a girl over his friends and walking out of the apartment. "Dave just stormed out all pissed off. I feel bad for the next person he talks to." Sam chuckled a little bit.
Puck turned his head towards the voice and saw his friends standing there. The sound of more guys brought Rachel who had been clinging to Puck, on the ground curled into a ball whimpering. "Not now, please just leave." Puck looked at Rachel worried and bent down to pick her up.
Matt was dumbfounded, never before seeing a girl besides Quinn in the apartment. "Who is she?"
"Not now Matt. I'll call you guys later." He rocked Rachel, willing her to stop crying.
"Ah, I don't think this dog likes me…" Artie whispered, Pixie growling at the other guys. Sam went to pick up the small dog, Pixie nipping at the strange man. When Sam moved away, hands up in defense, Pixie jumped down from Arties lap and went to Puck's feet.
"We'll just show ourselves out…" Mike suggested, nodding towards the door.
"Good idea," Was all Puck said before returning his attention back to Rachel. Once he knew the guys were gone, he set her back on her feet, crushing her against his chest. He rubbed slow circles on her back, trying to calm her down.
After a few minutes, she started to show signs of calming down so he slowly started to unwrap his arms to pull out his cell. He hoped he could get a hold of Quinn, she would know what to do. Unfortunately it was the wrong move, Rachel cried a little harder, pulling herself closer. Puck shook his head, "Can we move to the couch? Everyone's gone now." Rachel slowly nodded.
When they were seated in the leaving room, Rachel curled up on Puck's lap; he continued to rub the circles across her back. Puck didn't know what happened in that hallway, he didn't care; Dave's actions spoke loud and clear. As far as he was concerned, Dave would never be allowed back in the apartment. And once Finn found out about Rachel, Dave would be dead.
Guilt washed over Puck, he should have remembered Rachel being in the apartment. He knew she would have freaked when she saw all the guys, but if he had remembered he could have called it off or at least talked to Rachel about it. The girl just moved in with them and already Finn has yelled at her for no reason and she had been manhandled by Dave. But would Rachel have freaked, knowing she was alone with me? Was what Puck found himself really thinking. Sure, she kind of knew him, but he was still a stranger to her when it was the end of the day. Puck liked to think Rachel would have been okay with him there.
He felt bad for the broken girl that sat in his lap, none of them could really understand what she went through. He wanted to help her but he knew that this might have been his only chance to do so, especially now since she lay asleep in his arms. He was afraid that tomorrow, or whenever she woke up and let him go, that she would blame him for what happened and close herself off from everyone.
Puck felt his own eyes grow heavy; reaching around him, he grabbed the large blanket, bringing it around them, but mainly focusing on making sure Rachel would be warm. Once it settled, Rachel sighed and snuggled deeper under the covers. As Puck drifted off to sleep, on thought ran through his mind, I have to help save her.
…***…***
Finn was coming home on his lunch break, which wasn't something he normally did but he wanted to check on Rachel. Fuck, Rach! He berated himself realizing she was left alone with Puck and the guys all day. Don't get him wrong, he loved his friends. They were great guys who wouldn't hurt a fly. But they were also guys who knew Puck and Finn. When they saw Rachel, the only thing they would see was one of Puck's one night stands that was allowed to stay the night.
At the thought of his sister being scared, he ran faster to get to the apartment. He ran up all the stairs and just about tore the door off the hinges from the force he used to open it. He stood in the doorway, looking for any sign of Puck or a distressed Rachel. His eyes landed on the couch where he saw Puck and some brunette on the couch. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the girl was Rachel. "What the fuck?" Finn yelled, waking both of them up.
Rachel looked at Puck and blushed a little before looking at Finn and shrinking back against Puck when she saw how angry her brother was, thinking the anger was directed at her.
In reality, Finn was pissed that Puck could help Rachel and he couldn't. Puck sighed and responded to Finn's demand. "Dave happened dude."
A/N: Well, is it good? I hope so. I put a lot of thought into this chapter. Let me state right now that Dave is NOT the one who attacked her. He did not live in Lima, has never been there, does not know Rachel, okay? Now, this will be the last chapter for a week or so. All the chapters after this will get longer and there will be actual dialogue in them. There's no game today. So just review please! xoxoxo